Oxford IT Solutions’ top five tips for keeping your children safe online.

Social networking sites and communicating via online chat rooms is increasingly becoming part of everyday life for most young people. But how much do parents know about their childrens' online activity and the dangers it can pose? Oxford IT Solutions hopes to raise parents' awareness about five simple steps that they can make to help keep their children safe, whilst still embracing the exciting potential IT can offer.

“Whilst it’s not always possible to keep a watchful eye over what your child might be doing online there are certain things that parents can do to keep their children safe” explains Rob Williams, Co-Director of Oxford IT Solutions.

“The most important thing parents can do to protect their children from the dangers online is to educate themselves about the potential risks so that they are better able to help their children navigate around and use the Internet without coming to harm.”

With Internet safety being part of the secondary ICT curriculum children are learning about the dangers of the Internet.  As part of this they are learning about the existence of CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre) where they can get help and report online abuse.  (www.ceop.gov.uk)

“Parents are very much left to educate themselves which is why we feel it is important that parents understand the risks and how they can best prevent them!” says Rob.

 Because of the lack of knowledge parents have, Oxford IT Solutions believe that the following top five tips will help parents understand and keep children safe whilst online;

• Take a keen interest in your child’s Internet habits; what they use it for, what sites they visit and who they might talk to on them.  Not only will this help them stay safe but will let them know that if something isn’t right they can talk to you about it.
• Watch for differences in your child’s behaviour, if they suddenly become secretive for example.  This is a common sign that something is not right.
• Ensure that you have adequate filtering and protection on the computers that your child uses.
• Remind your child not to give out personal information over the Internet to anyone; even to someone that might appear to be a friend, and that once images are sent or uploaded to websites they lose control over them.
• Where possible, allow your child access to the Internet in a communal part of the home, try to avoid allowing your child to shut themselves away when online.

Think you know (www.thinkuknow.co.uk) is a fantastic website packed with information for both parents and children about staying safe online and is well worth spending some time looking through.

If you would like further advice or support with keeping your child safe online then call Oxford IT Solutions on 0845 474 8956 or email info@oxforditsolutions.com